Blog post no 9 Happy International Dog Day!

 Happy International Dog Day.

I hope my readers are really spoiling their dogs today.

I have been receiving lots of extra treats and cuddles.

And claimed the best chair in the house!

My staff are the best.

Barney.

Blog post No 8 Tricked!

 As you know I am a chap who likes to potter around and  investigate new things that appear in MY garden.

The other day this huge wooden box suddenly appeared outside.

With a couple of tubs of Marigolds on top,  it looked rather nice, nothing to be concerned about at all.

I thought it may be for me... to store my outdoor toys and my paddling pool.

My considerate foster parents making sure I had somewhere to keep them safe and dry during the winter months.

That was not the case 

I soon found out that when lifting the lid of this huge box it turned into a

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DOG BATH!!

To make matters worse I  ended up in it!

I didn't even have time to bark out that I didn't want a bath.

I was hosed down from top to toe, thoroughly soaped then rinsed.

One thing in my favour...

Can you see that white box thing on the side?

That's a little boiler and it made the water a nice warm temperature for me.

So perhaps it's not so bad after all.

Any more new structures that appear on the property I will be extremely wary of!

In future I will send in one of my housemates to investigate.

Barney 

(who is now very clean).

Blog post No 7 Chilling out.

I have been practising how to relax and not bark and become too excitable.

I am getting very good at it, even if I do say so myself.

I have gone from living life on the edge 

To catching the sun's rays through the window.

They do say the sun always shines on the righteous and those amongst us who do good deeds are usually rewarded.

I may not necessarily do a good deed but I am working on being a good boy and although being nice and quiet may not mean I will have an easier path to follow,  it may mean my snacks, treats and meals may be served a little quicker.

I live in hope.

 

I have been in my bed but still mange to keep an eye on my staff.

Sometimes I am too exhausted to stay awake 

That's when I dream of the places I would like to visit this summer.

I am getting much better travelling in the car.

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I have to tell you a funny story.

Yesterday my staff went out and I went with them in the car, I was in the back of the car on my bed of many blankets.  I was thoroughly enjoying rearranging the blankets to my liking that I forgot to bark!

After lots of stops and turns, negotiating country lanes, ignoring the irritating indicator clicking noises and not a murmur from me, my staff became exceedingly worried and thought I may have passed out or died so they stopped the car, when it was safe to do so, to make sure I was OK. 😲

Silly staff!

They disturbed me so I barked at them.

Why when they want me to be a good boy and be quiet on car journeys do they then disturb me and make me bark?

Think I need to send them away to be retrained!

Barney

Blog post No 6. Summer arrived.

It's been so hot recently.

Trying to find some nice shade has been my main task the past week.

The only trouble was the shade kept moving and I had to keep getting up and it made me hot again.

Under the trees was a very good place to be but  I felt guilty as the staff were busy staining their garden furniture in the ridiculous heat and I felt I really should be with them to offer my support.

A decision I soon regretted  when I nearly ended up being brown all over when the pot of furniture stain grew legs and almost walked off the bench.

So I had to move again!

Fortunately my  pool was out and at my request my staff kindly started to fill it up.

I made it my mission to drink the water as fast as it was going in.

I gave it my best shot but after a valiant effort I had to accept defeat... it was that or explode!

 It was suggested I get in the water and have a nice splash about.

I obliged by putting my left foot in and my left foot out, then I shook it all about 

and that was that!

I went indoors and found a fan to lay in front of, in the hope that it wouldn't move like the shade under the trees and the tin of furniture stain did outside!

It was at this point I called my nice grooming ladies and booked myself in for a Summer hairdo.

I have just come back and am looking very smart again.

 I immediately rubbed myself all along the sofa and submerged my beard in the water bowl as soon as I got home. 

So I better just show you a photo of my gorgeous ears.

Needless to say the temperature has now dropped like a stone, the sun seems to have gone on holiday and I am shivering!

I am staying indoors and playing with my interactive toys, lots of treat searches in cardboard boxes, Lickimats, my snuffle mat and my huge collection of soft toys.

I love them and they give me hours of enjoyment.

Barney

Blog Post No 5. Keeping myself fit and healthy.

 I am back!

I took a short break from blogging.  

Keeping my foster staff busy and with my birthday celebrations lasting a few days I really didn't have the time to fit everything into my daily schedule.

Here are a few photos from my birthday.

I received lots of presents, my favourite was a new baby hedgehog to add to my large stuffed toy collection.  

I have a whole family of hedgehogs now. I know which one is the Mummy hedgehog because she has pink toes. 

I munched on lots of extra treats and I was also allowed a slightly larger portion of dinner that day. 😋😋

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Anyway as this post is meant to be all about how I keep myself fit and healthy I had better get on with telling you.

Firstly, appearance is of paramount importance. Having a daily brush makes me feel good and I do like receiving the attention. 

I regularly go to the groomers. That's a fun place to go to. 

I am always their only client.... well who would want a Spa day with strangers? 

I like my privacy.

The lovely ladies that,  try to drown me,   bath me are absolutely brilliant. 

I get into their bath and I am soaped all over and  gently massaged. 

It really is a lovely experience even though I may look like a drowned rat...

Until the hairdryer comes out, which floofs me up and then I metamorphosise into a sheep!

Then I receive a lovely brush

I just sit there and let them pamper me.

Fluffy me.

Clipping begins

Then it's time for my nails to be done.

All done.

Handsome me

I am always as good as gold. 

I do think the grooming ladies have a soft spot for me. 😍

The next part of keeping myself nice and trim is being careful with my food. 

I admit I could eat for England but with guidance from my staff I know I eat healthily and the correct amount of good quality food each day. 

I recently had my annual health check at my Vets.

That's another great place to go and meet people who adore me.

I always make sure I am first through their front door.

 Stepping tentatively onto the dreaded scales  I was very happy when my nice vet lady said my weight was perfect even after the extra birthday treats and large portion of birthday dinner I had munched the previous week.

I was declared to be a lovely shape and as fit as a fiddle. 

The nice vet even asked my staff to confirm my age as I was acting more like an 11 month old than an 11 year old!

That proves that taking good care of yourself really works. 

There will always be a spring in my paws.

Even when taking the greatest care of myself,  I can succumb to having periods when I am a little under the weather.

Unfortunately this happened to me last year when a horrid bacteria called Pseudomonas infected my right ear.

After weeks and weeks of trying to get the horrid bacteria  to go away with several courses of different antibiotics, ear drops 4 times a day and multiple visits to my vets I realised there was only one option left for me.

I couldn't live in discomfort indefinitely and keep taking all the pills, so last November  an appointment was made for me to have day surgery and have my right ear canal removed.

My operation was successful and it meant the infection was completely removed and I was free from having a permanent ear ache.

I am fully healed now and looking at me you would never know I ever had the operation.

As I no longer have my right ear canal I am totally deaf in my right ear. 

My left ear works well....

When I want it to.......😈

I can sometimes experience problems locating a sound and apparently do a wonderful impression of a baby owl turning its head round and round trying to locate where a sound is coming from.  

Please note when the word  DINNER is mentioned I have perfect hearing. 

Well that's it from me for today.

I'll be back.

Barney.

 

Happy Birthday to me!

I am so excited.

It's my birthday today.

I have heard there will be lots of extra treats..

I love birthdays.

Got to dash.....presents need to be opened.

Barney 

Blog post No 4. Car journeys.

Hello

It's me again!

Today I am going to tell you all about our car journeys.

I do love a good car ride.

I admit to becoming quite excited.

First thing to do when you go on a car journey is to decide where you want to sit.

My personal choice would be the front seat next to my chauffeur.

Sadly I am not allowed to sit there.

Nothing stops me from trying out all the other seats though before we leave.

Should I sit on the nearside of the car or the offside?

It is important to sit where you feel the most comfortable .

Once we have all decided where we are going to sit and are safely strapped in,  having had several false starts trying to leave the drive because someone has forgotten something, the fun really starts for me.

The journey.

The staff have a voice locked away inside the dashboard of my transport and it tells them which route to take on our journey. It's quite clever really until it gets thoroughly confused because the staff ignore it!

It is quite a posh female voice and is rather pleasant to listen to for the first part of the journey.

After a few miles, when the staff decide they don't want to go on the scenic route she has chosen and would prefer the boring main road route instead, all we hear is ...

Take the next left.

Then turn left and then left again.

Or when she gets fed up with saying that, we have to listen to...

Turn around, turn around.

Even my little Wirey, woolly brain tells me we must be going round in circles at this point!

I do become rather exasperated and enjoy joining in the general mayhem of noise.... with the staff telling the voice inside the dashboard to stop talking. 

When we finally all agree on the route we will be taking, the nice lady inside the dashboard does settle down and snoozes until we have to turn off the road we are on and join a new one.

Then she comes into her own again and repeats absolutely everything.... twice!

And if you get it wrong  there is no stopping her!

Just to make sure my staff actually understand her instructions I add my tuppence worth to the proceedings  and bark out the directions.

This does not appear to go down too well with them.

I am always a little confused as to why we are all sat in the car having an argument with an invisible lady in the dashboard of MY transport..... when it would be so much easier if they just switched her off and picked up the road map that sits on the floor next to me.

But at least I have the chance to have a jolly good bark.

Always happy to join in.

Barney.